tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post8054408218850079370..comments2015-03-03T18:27:26.309-05:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: TUESDAY, Aug. 4 2009 — NPR newsman Adams / Clothing retailer starting in 1969 / Gondolier's need / Arrive on the Enterprise via transporterRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23467855050556932842009-09-09T18:30:59.992-04:002009-09-09T18:30:59.992-04:00I knew what scrim was, but I&#39;m a theatre perso...I knew what scrim was, but I&#39;m a theatre person from way back. My first paying job was as Mordred in <i>Camelot</i> when I was just thirteen. I&#39;m a grad student in biology and sociology now, so I only act on a semi-pro basis now around local theatres.<br /><br />Anyway, as was mentioned above, scrim is a semi-transparent fabric which appears translucent when backlit and opaque when lit from the front.<br /><br />The original Broadway production of <i>Sunday in the Park with George</i> had some fantastic use of the material. The first act follows George Seurat completing <i>Un dimanche après-midi à l&#39;Île de la Grande Jatte</i> while maintaining a romantic relationship with his artist&#39;s model, Dot. The completion of the painting in the first act is capped off with a beautiful choral piece called &quot;Sunday&quot; (there&#39;s a concert performance with Bernadette Peters <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITPu7rV9h80" rel="nofollow">here</a>).<br /><br />In the second act, Seurat&#39;s great-grandson, another artist named George living 100 years later, is struggling with his art until he is visited by all the figures in painting, particularly Dot, during a visit to Grande Jatte. As the notes of the &quot;Sunday (Reprise)&quot; fade, a blank scrim comes down, framing Dot. Then as the lights shift, she appears as a fading silhouette on this blank, white scrim as George intones one of the marginal notes from Dot&#39;s book: &quot;White. A blank page or canvas. His favorite: so many possibilities.&quot;Nullifidianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207390447020990907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-14152431653243600412009-09-08T11:40:55.864-04:002009-09-08T11:40:55.864-04:00Obama is an idiot!! Can we please have just one pu...Obama is an idiot!! Can we please have just one puzzle without him in it?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86031460903269553502009-08-05T10:04:09.296-04:002009-08-05T10:04:09.296-04:00NDE: As I remember, the old Romans declinated ever...NDE: As I remember, the old Romans declinated everything in sight--Jesus, Jesu, Jesum(?), Jesum, Jesu, Jesum(?)Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086202853174403008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-68808341990032590532009-08-05T00:26:33.251-04:002009-08-05T00:26:33.251-04:00There&#39;s an engraved title on the repurposed bu...There&#39;s an engraved title on the repurposed building that now houses all the core alternative schools here. And it was clearly labeled as a Grammar School. <br /><br />Dating from 1910, I wouldn&#39;t mind seeing a century&#39;s progress refined, or eliminated. When it comes to education I have some departures from some trends and orthodox theory.fergushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17056002311944010536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-15350939892861517272009-08-04T22:49:04.672-04:002009-08-04T22:49:04.672-04:00The palindrome &quot;amabo Obama&quot; is neat but...The palindrome &quot;amabo Obama&quot; is neat but Google says it&#39;s been known for a while. The flexible word order of Latin also allows &quot;Obamam amabo&quot;, which isn&#39;t new either (possibly originated by Kevin Wald). But since Obama isn&#39;t a native Latin word or name it might not be subject to declension.<br /><br />NDNoam D. Elkiesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-10148759854756783462009-08-04T22:46:55.153-04:002009-08-04T22:46:55.153-04:00@Ulrich, it was hilarious to watch my father try t...@Ulrich, it was hilarious to watch my father try to teach my daughter the complexities of Arabic grammar. She was a teenager when he came to live with us for a while (after my mother died) and her learning Arabic was their joint project. They did great together except when it came to any kind of drill. Like are you kidding me? Who does that? Are we in the Middle Ages? She would rely on her quickness and phenomenal memory but it was hit and miss. And he would shake his head and wonder what&#39;s happened to the world... He did win when it came to giving her daily dictation. I don&#39;t think he ever understood what a token of love it was for her to acquiesce to that routine. But remarkably, she can spell!<br /><br />@sanfranman59, thank you for our daily data!foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052189131129098616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-84828148928973449832009-08-04T21:31:45.012-04:002009-08-04T21:31:45.012-04:00Here are this week&#39;s relative difficulty ratin...Here are this week&#39;s relative difficulty ratings. See my 7/30/2009 post for an explanation.<br /><br />All solvers (median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)<br /><br />Mon 7:26, 7:02, 1.06, 69%, Medium-Challenging<br />Tue 7:44, 8:29, 0.91, 28%, Easy-Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:53, 3:44, 1.04, 65%, Medium-Challenging<br />Tue 4:06, 4:22, 0.94, 38%, Easy-Mediumsanfranman59http://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18194805602477081962009-08-04T20:25:26.852-04:002009-08-04T20:25:26.852-04:00@fikink: We diagrammed sentences with a vengeance....@fikink: We diagrammed sentences with a vengeance. Since German still has 4 of the 7 cases that Latin has, word order is not essential to indicate if the boy bit the dog or the dog bit the boy; i.e. syntax can become much more intricate because of this. <br /><br />As an aside: Unfortunately, German education has gone through the same dumbing-down that it has undergone here, where everything that smacks of &quot;drill&quot; is frowned upon: The goal is no longer to teach students something useful than to make them feel good about themselves. In fact, it got so bad in Germany that in an Europe-wide comparison (the by now infamous PISA study), German students ended near the bottom in many categories. As a result, a fundamental reorientation is taking place, and the results are already on record. (A side effect is that Latin is coming back as a subject to be taught--I wonder where they find the Latin teachers...)Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086202853174403008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80162590435148814422009-08-04T20:07:38.900-04:002009-08-04T20:07:38.900-04:00@Lisa and @mike ... Happy 50th to the two of you!!...@Lisa and @mike ... Happy 50th to the two of you!!!<br /><br />3 and out.johohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708487230515532492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-71848237603226068562009-08-04T19:18:07.168-04:002009-08-04T19:18:07.168-04:00@Anonymous at 1:00 pm (Mike): happy birthday, it&#...@Anonymous at 1:00 pm (Mike): happy birthday, it&#39;s my 50th tomorrow too!<br /><br />I thought this was really easy for a Tuesday puzzle. Happy birthday, Obama!Lisa in Kingstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793732995251623365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1968980921959663872009-08-04T19:10:14.508-04:002009-08-04T19:10:14.508-04:00... and upon reading Bob Kerfuffle&#39;s last post...... and upon reading Bob Kerfuffle&#39;s last post I see that there was some reason, though I like all the precision he included. And the notion of separation of mere futurity and volition. I get a kick out of this stuff, but the predilection can ostracize one from quite a few segments of society.fergushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17056002311944010536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-65012231348285202272009-08-04T19:04:09.786-04:002009-08-04T19:04:09.786-04:00So now I&#39;m wondering where I got the silly not...So now I&#39;m wondering where I got the silly notion that in the future tense, shall goes with the first person and will with the second and third? Glad I&#39;ve never tried to stress that point.<br /><br />I hope all this grammar stuff is not a turn-off for too many readers. Reckon they would have closed the window about 25 posts ago.fergushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17056002311944010536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-14895191321492765182009-08-04T18:34:30.355-04:002009-08-04T18:34:30.355-04:00@Bob Kerfuffle, this is exactly how I learned it! ...@Bob Kerfuffle, this is exactly how I learned it! Oddly enough, that was in Damascus, in a French Catholic School, from an Irish nun : ) <br /><br />Came here and became totally confused about the whole shootin match.foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052189131129098616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40898529840735197682009-08-04T18:31:21.180-04:002009-08-04T18:31:21.180-04:00I second the question about what&#39;s wrong with ...I second the question about what&#39;s wrong with the ALABAMABORDER. As soon as I saw the clue I knew from the OCHEE that the river was in the southeast USA, so that it must be some state border, so I just waited for enough crosses to see which one. Is it because Americans usually say &quot;state line&quot; instead of &quot;border&quot;? Foreigners call them borders, so it certainly isn&#39;t an alien phrase.<br /><br />And foodie, you made me laugh for a while with the Marilyn birthday flirting.Aviatrixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634111275860140084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-27368243452453722502009-08-04T18:21:42.524-04:002009-08-04T18:21:42.524-04:00@Bob Kerfuffle- Thanks for that bit. I&#39;m an ...@Bob Kerfuffle- Thanks for that bit. I&#39;m an ESL teacher and though I do teach &quot;who&quot; and &quot;whom&quot; in addition to &quot;If I were&quot;, I try to focus on grammar that is more or less in use. Next time I get a question about &quot;shall&quot;, I&#39;ll do better than &quot;Isn&#39;t that British English?&quot;<br /><br />We don&#39;t diagram sentences, but I loved it in school. Just another linguistic puzzle to solve.Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17964374453128401532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-69922109707345766532009-08-04T18:15:02.500-04:002009-08-04T18:15:02.500-04:00@bob kerfuffle, I bet your ear is tuned to the pro...@bob kerfuffle, I bet your ear is tuned to the proper use of &quot;may&quot; and &quot;might,&quot; too. God bless 1950s grammar teachers!<br /><br />@Ulrich, did you have to diagram sentences in your early German education? Diagramming sentences in seventh grade got me through high school Latin later on.fikinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06324570637549775751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39182849041683732342009-08-04T17:58:10.092-04:002009-08-04T17:58:10.092-04:00@Meg - Blame my 1950&#39;s elementary education. ...@Meg - Blame my 1950&#39;s elementary education. To quote &quot;Webster&#39;s Universal Dictionary of the English Language&quot;, 1936: &quot;. . . &#39;shall&#39; is used to denote simple futurity, and simply foretells or declares something which is to take place, and is thus equivalent to &#39;am to&#39;, &#39;are to&#39;, etc. . . &#39;Shall&#39; in this case expresses mere futurity, without any idea of determination or decision, to denote which in the first persons singular and plural &#39;will&#39; is used . . .&quot; and &quot; &#39;Will&#39; is never to be used as a question with the first person; as &#39;will I go?&#39; A man cannot ask if he wills to do anything that he must know and only he knows. . . . Simple futurity with the first person is appropriately expressed by &#39;shall&#39;. In colloquial speech there is some confusion in the use of &#39;shall&#39; and &#39;will&#39;; . . .&quot;<br /><br />I could say that in current usage &#39;shall&#39; and &#39;will&#39; are used interchangeably (to the anguish of those who were educated to hear the difference), except that &#39;shall&#39; isn&#39;t really used much at all!Bob Kerfufflehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81216499233245921142009-08-04T17:52:22.909-04:002009-08-04T17:52:22.909-04:00@ Anon 5:40 - in Spanish, yes. Latin requires the ...@ Anon 5:40 - in Spanish, yes. Latin requires the accusative for BO (cf. Ulrich&#39;s post) and I can&#39;t figure that out. I believe -O is not a nominative ending in any of the Latin declensions. At least as I was taught - perhaps it exists in the Vulgate.retired_chemisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181126754941899228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43553509698645973612009-08-04T17:45:33.051-04:002009-08-04T17:45:33.051-04:00Clue mistake at 38-Down
Gondolier&#39;s need (POLE...Clue mistake at 38-Down<br />Gondolier&#39;s need (POLE)<br /><br />According to Wikipedia:<br /><br />&quot;The gondola is propelled by a rower (the gondolier) who stands facing the bow and rows with a forward stroke, followed by a compensating backward stroke. Contrary to popular belief, the gondola is never poled like a punt as the waters of Venice are too deep.&quot;Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66925825167699501822009-08-04T17:40:17.351-04:002009-08-04T17:40:17.351-04:00AMA BO = he loves Obama&#39;s pet dog?AMA BO = he loves Obama&#39;s pet dog?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9387829082305015952009-08-04T17:38:10.284-04:002009-08-04T17:38:10.284-04:00When you got caught up with Medici...you may have ...When you got caught up with Medici...you may have been thinking of d&#39;medici...as in Lorenzo D&#39;Medici of Florence <br /><br />that may be why you wanted demiciMaxnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-42322880556224583732009-08-04T17:23:16.160-04:002009-08-04T17:23:16.160-04:00@ Bob Kerfuffle:
Volition as in &quot;The phone&#...@ Bob Kerfuffle:<br /><br />Volition as in &quot;The phone&#39;s ringing. I&#39;ll get it.&quot; and simple future as in &quot;The movie will start at 7:00&quot;? I always thought &quot;shall&quot; was kind of a combination of &quot;will&quot; and &quot;should&quot; denoting advisability along with futureness.Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17964374453128401532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38596570561042399212009-08-04T17:09:26.192-04:002009-08-04T17:09:26.192-04:00@Andrea: I admire your youthful enthusiasm, and th...@Andrea: I admire your youthful enthusiasm, and this may look like a wet blanket, or like rain on your parade, or whatever, but I must warn you: If you construct a puzzle around &quot;amabo Obama&quot;, classicists will be all over you pointing out that it has to be &quot;amabo Obamam&quot;; i.e. Obama has to be in the direct object (accusative) case. But then again, given your constructing skills, you may be able to take this in stride. In any case, amo Andream.Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086202853174403008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18800293468010706672009-08-04T16:35:36.440-04:002009-08-04T16:35:36.440-04:00Stick with Bob K - Wiktionary says he is right.
...Stick with Bob K - Wiktionary says he is right.<br /><br />amābimus<br /><br /> 1. first-person plural future active indicative of amō.<br /><br /><br />amābāmus<br /><br /> 1. first-person plural imperfect active indicative of amō.retired_chemisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181126754941899228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-84513626017255117522009-08-04T16:31:15.824-04:002009-08-04T16:31:15.824-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Bob Kerfufflehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.com